


the missing aren't missing, only forgotten

by Ghost_Implant



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventure, Adventures and Misadventures, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Comedy, Copious amounts of melodramatics and deja vu because why not, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I have no idea what I'm doing, Kageyama has some serious analytical skills, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Strangers to Lovers (kinda?), The more I let this remain published for all to see the more I realize this was a bad idea, came from an idea I had at 2 am, i did a thing, kinda winging this as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27501544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Implant/pseuds/Ghost_Implant
Summary: "You're the dumbass, dumbass! And you definitely owe me some gratitude." He stopped short at the vague sense of deja vu that overtook him for a second as the conversation unfolded. Odd, he never remembered meeting this boy before yet he felt like he's had a conversation similar to this many times before this."What's your name?" he asked roughly. After a moment the stranger replied, albeit hesitantly."...Hinata." The feeling that he was supposed to have know this, even though Hinata hadn't given him his full name, was barely there but it was definitely there. Hinata butted in before he could say anything."I already know your name. It's—" Shouts broke out, causing him to look away for just a moment. When he turned back around Hinata was nowhere to be seen, having somehow silently run away in the small timeframe he wasn't looking at him.And then he was chasing him, because he not only wanted answers to rapidly-appearing questions about the stranger but also because he wanted that stupid pulling feeling in his gut that was urging him to follow and find Hinata again to just go away.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Kudos: 3





	1. ???

**Author's Note:**

> okay i'm just gonna be totally honest when I say I have literally no idea what I'm doing so just...bear with me as I try to grind out this half-hearted monstrosity

_ Gritting his teeth, his entire body groaned with protest as he tried and failed desperately to get up. Not because he had broken a leg and it hurt to stand, but the magical restrainments on him caused him to feel extraordinary amounts of pain whenever he resisted. After an agonizing moment, he couldn’t take it anymore, trembling legs giving out and causing him to fall to the ground once more.  _

_ Someone, probably ?̶̡̛̰̫̟͓̹͈̲̥̯̮͎̲͙̩̭͈̯̱̝̲͋̇̈́̂̑̈́̇̑̓̅̈́͛̒̎̇̽͋̾͝?̶̡̛̣̺̝͓̦̲̭̯̹͔̜͚̰͈̤̮̣̝̼̓̀̎̾̅̈̏̉̐̐̈́̕?̵̡̡̧͇̠͕̩̖͎͚̫̣͇̙͙̦͓̖̤̻͎͖͎͚̖̌̿̅͒͊̍̓̍́̓̽̏͊̓̓̈́̿͑̓̓̕̚̕̚͠͠?̸͈̭̯̣̬̳̟̫̳̆̎͂͋͆̒̅̅͐̓̓̔́̂͐̒̔̎̚͝͝͝͠ͅ called out his name and that hurt him just as much, to hear ?̷͕̗̣̟͓̘̱͇̾͑̋́̽̆̃̈́̐̀͗̾̇̇̍̿̃͒͘͝͝͠?̵̨̢͈̳͉̝͚̞͙̮̹̹̫͉͓͔̬̪̭̼̣̋͊̒̾̒̈̾̑̓̏͊̈̆̌͊̄̇̅̏͝?̸̢͖̳͙͕̮͎̱͍̘̝̟͍͚͎̳̱̖́̓͌̈̋̾̐͌̿̍͛̔̍͋̆̉̚?̵̡̮͎̘̺̞̥̳̞̜̗͎̖̇̅̀̿̆̽'̸̨̧̼̲͍̟͔̣̱͔̯̣̙̦͉̺̼͇̬̼̯̞̺̍̍͛͊͂̽̽̔͐̈́̅͂̅̽͜͝ş̵̝̜͕̜̜̱̺̬̜̲̩̙̫̯̯̜̹̦͖̱̩̺̩̮̓̂͒̾̊͜͝ͅ voice filled with hysteria at being forced to watch this. He cursed himself for not being able to do anything in this situation and most of all he cursed the monster who had landed them in this position. A tiny and distant part of his mind mocked him mercilessly, telling him how despite the fact he was called the King of Adventurers he wasn’t able to do anything. Not when it really mattered most. And he was so alone, with no one else who could come in for a miracle rescue. The former team he’d traveled with had long abandoned him and the others were too far away to make it in time. _

_ Desperately he racked his mind, knowing deep down that this wasn’t going to be different than the other times he’d done so. There was obviously no way for him to free himself from the enchanted restrainments, and even if he did so the more he took in and analyzed the surroundings all around him there was nothing that could be done. Nothing that would get both him and ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ out of this alive and in one piece.  _

_ And then he blinked and the very monster himself was there. Eyes scanning the new area around them, he quickly realized any efforts of resistance or escape there would also be moot. A small wave of euphoria broke out when he realized ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ was now next to him, alive and more or less in one piece. The other seemed to realize this too, as he was saying something to Kageyama, whose attention was on the man who watched with pure indifference. _

_ Noticing this, he laughed. Gritting his teeth, Kageyama had never felt such a stronger desire to release a spur of insults and swears before, only doing so out of the instinct of self-preservation. All he could do was silently fume. _

_ “I really should kill you two, you know. It’d be pretty simple and efficient. That, or I could hold you two prisoners here for the rest of your lives and leave you to rot without any way of returning home. Either way would be pretty amusing for me.”  _

_ Neither one of the two said anything. The man raised an eyebrow, taking their silence as an answer. _

_ “Very well,” he said, already turning away. “I’ll figure out something to do with the both of y _ _ —” _

_ “Wait.” ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ interjected. Kageyama and the man turned to him in surprise, though Kageyama couldn’t turn as much.  _

_ “Wait,” ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ repeated slowly, punctuating the single word. “I wanna offer you a deal.” Cocking his head slightly, their captor’s silence urged him to go on. _

_ “Take me and let him go free.” _

_ “I would do this, why?” Mouth set in a determined line Kageyama knew so well, ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ raised his eyes to stare directly at the person before them. _

_ “Because it would cause far more pain and suffering than if you just killed us both. And that’s what you love causing, isn’t it?”  _

_ “I suppose.” At the small acknowledgment, ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ kept pressing on, to Kageyama’s growing horror. _

_ “So take me instead. We both know you don’t like him in the slightest, so doing that will hurt both of us far more than what you said earlier.” _

_ The silence seemed to stretch further and further on as the other considered. Kageyama couldn’t even find the words to say anything. Horror and fear were now rooting themselves deeply in him, as the true weight of what was offered finally sunk in. _

_ “Alright, I’ll offer you a deal. In exchange for his life,” he pointed at Kageyama, “I’ll take you and do something I’ve always wanted to do.” With growing dread, both could only listen carefully to what was about to be said. “I’ve always thought a person’s life and who they are comes heavily from other’s memories of them. So what if there was someone who was wiped from history, erased from the memories of all who knew and loved them? What would become of them then? Would they fall into despair, knowing not a single one of their loved ones will recognize them? Perhaps they’d simply carve out a new existence but will always be haunted by the fact that they had another life? I think you may be able to help me answer this query of mine.” _

_ Oh nononononno- _

_ “So in exchange for his life, I”ll erase any proof of yours. You’ll be forgotten, wiped from this very land. Not even he will recognize or remember you. Do we have a deal?” He offered a hand for a shake, the final part of a bargain that actually sealed it. _

_ No no no no no no no no no no no no no. Please, no. _

_?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗’s face paled, but he slowly, oh so slowly, raised his hand to shake the one that offered nothing but their doom within its palm. Time stretched and grew thinner like a rubber band being pulled out and Kageyama finally managed to say something through all the shock that had clouded his mind. _

_ “ _ _ Wait, no, don’t _ _ —” But it was too late and the deed was done.  _

_ Already the faces and names which had seemed so crystal clear earlier were becoming murky and clouded. ?̵̙̤͚͈̟͓̱̘͖̜̥̥̫̼̝͇͙̭̳̞̞̲̺̩̣̪̳͇̗͈͈̪͋̇͒̂̈́̅̉̋̈̅̌͗̒͝͠?̵̢̨̨̨̡̡̬̝̟̱̠͎̱͇̣͖͔̝̠̩̘͓̗̤͓̖̯̝̓̌͜?̷̡̨̡̖̩̜̖̯͚͖̣̤̫͑̃̄̄?̶̢̹͚͚̥̘̳̗̥͉̹̫͖͍̹̝̹͗ turned to face him and with even more horror he realized his name was rapidly slipping away from him with every second. The faces were blurred even more now, names spinning around and taunting him in his head before vanishing like a puff of hot air vanishes into the cold winter breeze without a trace.  _

_ “Kageyama, I lo—” And then like a balloon, everything popped out of existence, and then he was freefalling through an abyss with no start, middle, or end.  _


	2. all minds hold all thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting up the plot and making sure everyone who reads this heap of garbage understands just how much of a lonely boi Kageyama is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back. miss me? no? it's alright, i'd totally get it if you didn't. also, it turns out trying to write in character is kinda hard so sorry if some parts seem OOC. i know i get kinda peeved if I read OOC fanfics but whatever, read at your discretion

Kageyama’s days had never really been amazing before, but today was definitely on the worse end of the spectrum in his life so far. He’d long ago learned to ignore Tsukishima’s usual taunts of calling him King, but they’d managed to cut far more deeply today than before. Sensing the quickly-increasing tension from him, Sugawara had all but told him to go walk it off and cool down for a bit before things escalated anymore. Stalking away he’d caught a glimpse of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi conversing with each other, the former meeting his eyes and offering him a smug smile. Looking around the rest of his “team” (though he wasn’t sure if he could call them that as he wasn’t particularly close with many of them, maybe except Sugawara, and that was a bit of a stretch) he realized another thing that caused the everlasting gap between him and the others was how he still felt fairly alone even with them.

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were together a lot of the time, pretty much off in their own world. Daichi and Sugawara, the official and unofficial leaders of the group, tended to stick together as well. Nishinoya and Tanaka, the most boisterous out of all of them, could almost always be seen off doing a variety of stupid and sometimes flat-out dangerous stunts together or professing their undying affections for Kiyoko if the poor girl was unfortunate enough to be spotted by them. Asahi could also be seen tagging along with them, desperately trying and failing to calm them down before they got into too much trouble. All this ultimately left Kageyama as the loner and with his own thoughts for company. This admittedly didn’t bother him as much as it would someone else because his thoughts typically revolved around both his constant desire to go do what adventurers do best (go on adventures, obviously) and most recently this intriguing game he’d been introduced to by the others. But still, on the occasion he’d changed his usual track of thought and thought about his present situation he’d come to this conclusion.

And maybe he could’ve tried hanging out with the others more often instead of going off and doing his own thing, but it seemed, for now, he’d just be stuck as the odd one out. So with that to think about he’d turned on his heel and walked away from the team. With nothing to do and his usual options of occupying himself exhausted he’d just aimlessly wandered the streets of the town that everyone else had decided they’d stop at to rest or just enjoy their rare downtime. His sour mood must’ve been clearly reflected on his face, as quite a few people in his path saw him and ducked out of the way to leave him alone. 

Unlike some, he didn’t particularly enjoy his downtime between adventures, as they were what kept him going and provided a sense of thrill one just couldn’t really get from meandering around a small and remote town. Honestly, he could’ve seen himself doing that every day all day for as long as he could if possible. He pretty much lived and breathed them and the constant action and excitement they provided. But apparently not everyone shared that sentiment, as he’d found out.

Forcing those thoughts from his mind before things ended up spiraling and he was once again standing alone watching his former team leaving him behind, he had been so preoccupied that he’d missed the sound of someone calling after him and practically jumped when Sugawara had seemingly materialized behind him out of nowhere. Thinking he was in trouble for what had happened earlier he had been prepared to receive some kind of talking to but Sugawara must’ve read the look on his face.

“You’re not in trouble of any kind. Everyone’s been called together, apparently there’s news we need to hear.” He said. 

“What kind of news?”

“No idea, but it sounded bad. Takeda and Ukai seemed fairly concerned about it. So the sooner we find out what it’s about the better.” Kageyama hesitated but nodded, following the other at a brisk pace. 

Seeing everyone else already gathered the two caught up with the others and Kageyama spotted Ukai and Takeda at the center, the latter speaking loud enough that he had been able to hear bits and pieces of what was being said while approaching them. 

“No one knows what’s happening or what’s even causing it, but people are getting seriously scared. So far it’s been kept a secret but apparently, that’s not going to last for too long if things keep continuing like this.” He said, motioning for everyone to keep quiet before he pushed on. “I’ve heard that even some of the more experienced adventurers have failed to stop whatever’s going on, some even being killed as well.” 

“What’s going on?” Kageyama asked, somewhat impatient at the fact that he was clearly missing some key information.

“Something strong has been traveling around all of Karasuno and killing droves of people along the way, not leaving any clues as to how they even died. All reports of the bodies state that it looks like they just dropped dead, with no wounds at all. And any survivors are missing.”

“How’d they know there were survivors?”

“Records of the population and the number of bodies they counted don’t match up, and there’s no sign of the people who are left unaccounted. This is gonna get bad quickly if something doesn’t happen.”

“Do you think they’ll put out an emergency call?” Nishinoya interrupted, causing everyone to go silent. An emergency call hadn’t been called in decades, and when one did happen it meant that all adventurers, mercenaries, anyone could act on it and get a heft reward if they succeeded. 

“Well if that does happen, it’ll be a hell lot more interesting than what we’ve been doing lately!” Tanaka declared, somewhat excited by the prospect of actually doing something instead of just hired missions, “I mean, come on. All we’ve been doing is boring stuff like small assignments where we go kill monsters that have been attacking people. Big deal, that gets boring quickly.”

Some of the others made small noises of assent, most notably Nishinoya.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll actually get to do Rolling Thunder!” 

“Come on, Noya, that’s a stupid name.” 

“It is not! It’s a perfect name! Someone back me up here!” To Nishinoya’s dismay and everyone else’s amusement, no such person stepped forward. It distantly occurred to Kageyama that the awkward silence filled with Nishinoya’s attempts at defending himself felt a bit too empty like someone should’ve been on the poor boy’s side but that wasn’t the case. Before he could truly think about that the thought had vanished from his mind without a trace.

“Moving on from that, we can’t really do anything about the news unless there’s an emergency call about it,” Sugawara said, distinctly steering the conversation back towards the matter at hand. Kageyama internally cursed the rules that prevented something from being done. They were meant to minimize conflict between adventurers, as there were quite a few notable incidents in history where a dispute over who got the credit for an impressive achievement ended in a serious rivalry or in some cases even bloodshed. 

So with that in mind, all anyone could do was disperse once more, somewhat uneasy with this knowledge now permanently tucked in the back of their minds. Whatever happened from there was up to forces they couldn’t control. Wandering off once more on his own Kageyama found that the quickly-emptying streets of the town due to the beginnings of nighttime that now broke out across the sky felt way darker and far lonelier than ever before. He stared up at the bright streaks of orange and pink in the sky, the result of an otherwise beautiful sunset. In particular, he couldn’t seem to look away from the bright orange, confusing himself when he realized that the color made him feel even more lonely and estranged from everyone else. 

Deciding that it’d be a really good idea to stop staring up like a dumbass before he ended up pulling something in his neck, he glimpsed a flash of orange below him out of the corner of his eye. It was gone in a second and he dismissed it as the weird flashes of light one would see after staring into a bright light or rubbing their eyes too hard. He didn’t acknowledge his own self-doubt about that theory. 

Just a bit later all traces of that sunset and the orange tint of the sky disappeared, giving way to the darkness of a night with no sign that the stars would appear to light it up, leaving a seemingly-endless banner of darkness that devoured the weak lights of the few torches lit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huzzah for my awkward attempts at hints and foreshadowing. if you managed to catch them, good job. otherwise i'd like to think this will make excellent practice for if i plan on writing any other content but that's a big if

**Author's Note:**

> kinda making this up as i go, so if I do decide to go through with this it may take me a bit to figure out an actual plot because I'm not kidding when I say i didn't stop to actually think this through at all. I basically had an idea for this and decided I'd actually write something instead of just read so here i am i guess.
> 
> btw if for some reason you can't read the zalgo text i put in to be extra just copy it and go to the zalgo text generator online and paste it. don't worry if you're too lazy though, you're not missing too much if you don't.


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